


bones

by Rethira



Category: Original Work
Genre: Cannibalism, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2018-12-03
Packaged: 2019-09-06 12:25:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16832566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rethira/pseuds/Rethira
Summary: the ocean scours the bones white and clean





	bones

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [stardust in his skin](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1054666) by [Rethira](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rethira/pseuds/Rethira). 



long after the bones have turned white, scoured clean and bare by the ocean current, humans drag the merman from the ocean

he thrashes in their nets, wild and fierce, bares his teeth and flashes his spines in threat displays but it does nothing to deter them - they’re nothing like his bones, buried in the silt of the ocean floor. nothing like his human, soft and sweet on the sand, and then soft and sweet in his stomach

they place him in a thing - the water tastes wrong, and there are invisible walls that stop him from escaping, stop him from going back to his bones. the humans peer in at him through the walls, pointing and making noises

he goes to sleep eventually, although it’s a fitful and poor sleep. he wants his bones back. he wants his ocean back

when he wakes up, he’s in a different, much larger thing. the water still tastes wrong. the fish are wrong - he eats one anyway, and it tastes good and fat and strong. but it is still wrong. a human knocks on the invisible wall, and it looks strange too, all pale and stark and… afraid

 _his_ human had never looked afraid

more humans come. some even get in the water with him - he watches them, not quite nervously. they’re smaller than he is. if he gets hungry, he could catch one. but there are fish to eat, plenty of fish, and… he wants his bones back

somehow, the merman knows that these humans… they won’t taste as good as that first human

 _his_ human

(he does catch one eventually. they come down with big things on their backs and they don’t drown like his human did, so his has to use his spines instead. the humans don’t realise what’s happening at first, and by then he’s already bared his teeth and sunk them in-

he was right, in the end

they didn’t taste as good)


End file.
